Birth order, estrogens and sex-ratio adaptation in African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)

Because the sex of mammals is chromosomally determined, populations generally produce a similar proportion of males and females. However, it has been recognized for more than century that individuals might increase their fitness by over-producing offspring of one sex, under certain conditions. Small biases in the secondary sex ratio are seen in many vertebrates. Here, we report that the sex ratio of primiparous African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) is strongly biased in favor of sons (63%), while multiparous females produce an excess of daughters (64%). The direction of these biases is predicted by individual femalesʹ need for subordinate helpers. For humans, elevated estrogens have been hypothesized to bias the secondary sex ratio toward males. Consistent with this hypothesis, primiparous female wild dogs had basal estrogen levels double those of multiparous females.